Wine Talk; Italy's 1997 Vintage: Poised for Greatness

By Frank J. Prial

Published: August 26, 1998

THE trouble is that you want to believe. That this will be the year the home team makes it to the Superbowl. That this diet is going to do the trick. That (fill in the year) is going to be the vintage of the century in (fill in the country).

Italian winemakers are sure that the 1997 vintage was the best ever. Just listen to what Piero Antinori, probably Italy's best-known grower and producer, had to say about it: ''I have never seen a vintage like this and I have been making wine for 30 years.'' He added, ''I have never seen the grapes in such perfect condition.''

But how many times have we heard that claim before? O.K., the Italians' euphoria is understandable: after some pretty mediocre years in the northern regions, they have a very fine vintage and reason to celebrate. But the vintage of the century? So many things can happen to fine wine during the long months it spends maturing in barrels, during the bottling process and even while it is traveling from the winemaker's cellar to the consumer's table. Let's wait and see.

Problems, after all, can be deceptive. For example, to visitors, Italy may seem like a perpetually sunny place where crops like grapes grow easily. In fact, Chianti and the other Tuscan wines have been plagued again and again in the last decade by excess rain. Italy's last truly great year for wine was 1990, and before that, 1985. The Piedmont region had good years in 1996 and in 1989; neither was especially outstanding in Tuscany.

But in 1997, the weather gave winemakers a break. Late winter and spring were mild and dry, and in most Tuscan vineyards, the vines started to bud 10 days early, giving them a longer growing period.

''We had one and a half months, crucial months, with not one inch of rain,'' Mr. Antinori said of the growing season. Even though the harvest was earlier than usual, the grapes had unusually high sugar concentrations, and this made for higher quality wines.

Mr. Antinori sent along a bottle of his 1997 Santa Cristina, a red wine from his Tuscan vineyards that he positions just below his Chiantis and sells for under $10. Normally considered a ''little'' wine, of good quality but no particular elegance, this Santa Cristina, made from sangiovese with about 10 percent merlot, had depth and flavor one might expect from bottles at twice the price.

The more expensive Tuscan wines in his collection, like the Chiantis Villa Antinori, Tenute Marchesi Antinori and Badia a Passignano, and the Super-Tuscans like Tignanello, Solaia, and the newest, Guado al Tasso, from the seaside vineyards at Bolgheri, will be released over the next several years.

Jacopo Biondi-Santi, the best-known producer of Brunello di Montalcino, concurred with Mr. Antinori, predicting that 1997 will be better than 1990. ''It's one of the best vintages in 40 years,'' he said.

Emanuela Stucchi-Prunetti, whose family owns Badia a Coltibuono, a major estate in southeast Tuscany, was cautiously enthusiastic. ''It was certainly a good year,'' she said, ''but high sugars and consequent high acid levels can cause problems in the cellars.''

In the Piedmont region, 1996 and 1997, both excellent vintages, are a replay of 1989 and 1990, said Leonardo Locascio, who imports wines from all over Italy under the Winebow name. ''The 1997's are extremely pretty wines,'' he said. ''They are beautifully colored and perfumed wines, many of them almost ready to drink when they are released. The 1996's are more structured, less approachable early on. They are the wines to put away.''

''That's the way it was with 1989 and 1990,'' he added, ''the 89's were the wines to keep, the 1990's, with lower acid and higher alcohol, were more attractive at the beginning.''

Mr. Locascio said that, unlike some previous years, 1997 was ''uniformly great'' throughout Italy. ''It is going to be just as strong a vintage in Umbria and Central Italy as in the north,'' he said.

''In the Piedmont,'' he continued, ''the most important grape is the nebbiolo. Normally, the young nebbiolo wines resemble the pinot noir; they are light in color, almost pinkish at times. In 1997, the grapes were dark and the young wine is almost purple. It will age into really remarkable wines.''

Fausto Maculan, a prominent winemaker in the Veneto region, hailed 1997 as ''the equal of 1990, if not better.'' The region's Valpolicella producers, who had a mediocre year in 1996, are especially encouraged. Producers like Allegrini, Bolla and Masi are predicting great things, particularly for amarone, which has become one of Italy's most popular wines. Amarone is a rich red wine made partially from intensely flavored, dehydrated grapes.

So, can American wine fans taste these Italians for themselves? The best 1997 Tuscan wines -- Chiantis, brunellos and the Super-Tuscans -- will not be released for another year. But there are many lesser lights from the vintage already on the market. Particularly noteworthy are the whites: pinot grigio, vernaccia, Orvieto and even chardonnay.

Italy's reputation for turning out forgettable white wine is, unfortunately, not exaggerated. Well, 1997 could change all that. Across the board, the 1997 Italian whites are richer, deeper colored and more flavorful than anyone might expect. And their prices, for the most part, are still reasonable.

If, when they begin to arrive next year, the big Italian reds show the same quality level as the whites, fans of Italian wines will have some truly exceptional bottles to add to their cellars. Whether these, too, will be priced reasonably is another matter.

Tastings

Balancing Act

Steele Pinot Noir 1996 Carneros, Sonoma County, Calif. About $19.

JED STEELE seems to turn out more different pinot noirs in the course of a year than Ridge Vineyards does zinfandels. And they're always worth investigating. In 1996, for example, he produced two that I know of from the Carneros region. One comes from grapes from the Sangiacomo Vineyard, the other -- this one -- from both Sangiacomo and the Durell Vineyard. Sangiacomo is down on San Pablo Bay; Durell is up in the hills. Combining the cherrylike fruit from Sangiacomo with the deeper, plumlike grapes from Durell makes for a beautifully balanced wine, a classic pinot noir. It was aged about 10 months in French oak, has a lovely bouquet and is ready for drinking now.